Contents

Plot

Sapphire sits perched on a lamppost, whistling out at the ocean. Roxanne finally catches up to her and says she's not through explaining about Gym Badges, then demands to know where Sapphire is going in such a hurry. Sapphire says she's headed to Dewford Town and will use a Pokémon to get there—Lorry, a Wailord that she borrowed from her father. Lorry appears and Sapphire leaps onto its back, telling it to take her to Dewford, and as they swim away Roxanne tries to yell across the water the full explanation about Gym Badges and the Pokémon League.

Meanwhile in Team Aqua's hideout, Matt, Shelly, and Amber stand at attention as their boss Archie congratulates them on successfully stealing the heart component of the Submarine Explorer 1. He promotes them to sub-leaders and gives them each a vest to mark their new position, but also warns that he hasn't forgiven them for allowing themselves to be seen by Sapphire, Gabby, and Ty during their mission. He says he expects they know what to do about it, and they agree.

Out at sea, Ruby wakes up in a ship's cabin and is distressed to find all of his clothes crumpled and muddy. He hangs them up as he remembers what happened to Wally, assuming he got away safely. Suddenly, an old man barges in and asks whether Ruby is trying to crash his boat, and Ruby realizes this is the man that saved him. The man introduces himself as Mr. Briney, a retired fisherman, and says his Wingull, Peeko, found Ruby out at sea. Ruby thanks him for his help, even though the motion of the ship makes him seasick.

Ruby questions why Briney is out fishing if he's retired, and Briney explains that there have been recent sightings of a mysterious fish that he's longed to capture his whole life. Supposedly, this fish has remained unchanged in the depths of the sea for a hundred million years, and legend says it can even carry humans safely down into the deep.

As the boat putters along, a sudden beeping noise distracts Ruby. Briney says that his Whiscash can sense earthquakes with its whiskers, and that it always warns him about any that are coming, also noting that there have been a lot of them lately. Remembering that Wally said the same thing, Ruby admits that it was an earthquake that originally knocked him into the ocean. Briney tells him that most of the recent earthquakes have been happening near Sootopolis City.

Suddenly, Briney gets a bite on his line, although it turns out to be only a couple of Wailmer and not his mysterious fish. He catches them anyway, as he considers them a good catch anyway, and explains to Ruby that man has a lot to learn from Mother Nature. For example, Wingull hover over patches of sea rich in prey, and that helps show him where the best fishing spots are. He gets another bite on his line and thinks it might be the mystery fish, but instead, a Crawdaunt hauls itself aboard. With one hit, the Crawdaunt knocks Briney off of his own boat, and Ruby catches his hand, leaving him dangling off of the side. Briney questions why the Crawdaunt is there, as they usually live in fresh water and ponds. The Crawdaunt advances menacingly, ready to attack them both.